i advise you to take what you feel would be the most comfortable/easy to move around. You will be spending a lot of time carrying your luggage, if you’re taking a suitcase make sure it has wheels. I would probably go with the backpack, it leaves your hands free to take pictures, carry other things etc.

I was wondering myself, I was leaning toward rolling suitcase since I thought you kinda left your stuff on the bus during tours??? I’m not sure, this is my first tour with Contiki so not sure what to expect.

Hey thereI’m taking the Aussie Explorer tour too – I leave Nov 8 & am taking a big backpack – I think its the most practical (while maybe not as large as a suitcase). I’m not sure what the best advice is, but that’s what I’m doing. <!--graemlin:;)-->

I agree that a backpack will keep your hands free, but I know during my Contiki tour in Europe, my suitcase spent most of its time at the hotel or on the bus. I had a daypack that I used for light-things that I would need during the day.

My additional concern is how much do I pack? The 25 days is a long time, and I’m afraid of losing a day doing laundry. With that in mind, a suitcase might be too big to carry my stuff. A backpack might not hold enough (plus souveniers?).

Just to throw the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons. I am doing a bit of a round the world thing. Going to Aus first, NZ and then USA for about 5 months in total inc tours etc. Like the idea of a backpack but the comfort of a suitcase … also not sure as I heard something about contiki not allowing metal frames … No idea what this means. Any help?

I don’t want to get this thread off topic, but I have a question about the suitcase size. I know Contiki specifies that suitcases can’t be over 29 × 20 × 10. My question is this, has anyone had any trouble with oversized luggage? My current suitcase is 29 × 19 × 12. This is a tad bit bigger than the size limit.